Own it on Vita and enjoyed it despite its flaws. Exploration is the focus and handled well. Well worth playing for anyone looking to scratch a pathfinding game itch, though they'll have to come equipped with patience. (Then again, they always should.)

Am I just crazy or was this not announced a while ago? I'm certain Gamestop is actually advertising the console version in one of their in-store commercials this month, running back-to-back with the commercial for that assassin's creed up-port as well. It actually stopped me from buying the handheld version.

Beautiful. My brother said this game was good on 3DS. Glad to play this with achievements on XBLA.

I really enjoyed AC Liberation HD. That was a fantastic bite-sized helping of AC... I loved the focus on slavery, the French accents, the bayou, and the main character (bad ass black woman - nice change of pace from rugged tough guy).

Originally Posted by Dimorphic

PS4/X1 versions?

Would be nice since every xbla game has 1000 gamerscore on xb1 but it would probably take a lot of effort to make the graphics look acceptable on next-gen platforms.

Beautiful. My brother said this game was good on 3DS. Glad to play this with achievements on XBLA.

I really enjoyed AC Liberation HD. That was a fantastic bite-sized helping of AC... I loved the focus on slavery, the French accents, the bayou, and the main character (bad ass black woman - nice change of pace from rugged tough guy).

Would be nice since every xbla game has 1000 gamerscore on xb1 but it would probably take a lot of effort to make the graphics look acceptable on next-gen platforms.

Seriously, it was the worst I've ever seen. Criminal for what's supposed to be a Metroid-vania game.

It was somewhat confusing, but outside of making it fully 3D I don't see how they could improve it. It served to show the room you were in, the exits available to you, and their relative position within the room. It wasn't perfect, but it was serviceable.

Am I just crazy or was this not announced a while ago? I'm certain Gamestop is actually advertising the console version in one of their in-store commercials this month...

Could be that it's shown up early in a few places (I think maybe there was also an Australian classification,) but no, it has not yet been officially announced still. This is pretty well "confirmed" however, whereas before it was a lot of weird sourcing that could be legit but could also be retailer errors or private test-marketing.

Originally Posted by MattKeil

Between this and AC:Liberation I guess it's time to stop buying handheld "exclusive" titles, since they always seem to show up on the big boys later.

The handheld games are rarely that much more money than the downloadable console game, and the issues with it are rarely so fully addressed that the home version is the better game. Plus, the portable version is portable.

I see this quite a bit, that people say they're not going to get a Vita because its games just get ported (or all it gets is ports,) but myself, I'm past demanding all exclusive games for my handhelds (unless they specifically take advantage of being handheld,) I just want good games and the option of where to play them. I don't want the hacked-down version of LEGO The Movie. I want the option of buying side-games like AC:L and B:AO BG on my portable first even if a console port comes along (especially since these side-games aren't always made unless there's a reason to do it... better to treat the portable market as the launching pad or the companion game for the major canon entry, get some press and feedback, then quickly remaster it for consoles next year; I'd be perfectly happy if that's how we eventually would get GTA: San Andreas Stories.) I want cross-buy when the HD version comes along in case I missed it the first time, and I want that to be a market advantage so that if I missed it the first time, my portable fanbase doesn't get punished for not supporting the game at launch. I want Sony to help maximize their Vita middleware and engines so that it makes it easier to make more ports and more accurate ports, because unless I already own it elsewhere, it doesn't matter to me. I want this damned powerful piece of hardware to get its due in games, and I don't care if they're also on PS3 or PS4 because I didn't buy a PS4 and my PS3 has been collecting dust since Christmas.

...Little rant there, but honestly, I could care less what they do with a game after I buy it as long as what I buy makes me happy. And what makes me happy these days, predominantly, is portable games.

Originally Posted by Father_Brain

A trend that ends here, since there aren't really any more third-party 3DS or Vita titles of that ilk to port. But yeah, I doubt anyone is surprised by this.

...Activision could get spiteful and port over COD Black Ops Declassified? But yeah, not much else after that.
And yeah, that's one of my frustrations with hating on the HD up-ports: with the disappointing markets that have developed around both of these systems (even 3DS, for all of its success, has not cultivated a desirable market to product games for outside of the AAA, long-tail titles, which Nintendo dominates and has only shared with Monster Hunter,) the only other option is turning out to be NO games at all.

Originally Posted by ascii42

Yeah, happened a lot with PSP ->PS2 as well.

Strangely, it was mostly Sony's own titles that did that. You didn't see Ridge Racer or Crisis Core on PS2, but the Syphon Filters and Wipeout Pulse and Ratchet: Size Matters were ported (also the two GTA games.) If Vita TV doesn't take off, I wonder how long it'll take PS3 game production to slow down for Killzone Mercenaries and Uncharted: Golden Abyss to get a console remastering?

There is nothing wrong here. Handheld is not that that hot in the west and these games got decent budgets (as in not small 2D indie games) and publishers can sell them digitally on consoles for more gamers later on.

The handheld games are rarely that much more money than the downloadable console game, and the issues with it are rarely so fully addressed that the home version is the better game. Plus, the portable version is portable.

*snip*

...Little rant there, but honestly, I could care less what they do with a game after I buy it as long as what I buy makes me happy. And what makes me happy these days, predominantly, is portable games.

While I have owned almost every handheld system ever made, if I can play something on the big screen with a real controller, I'll take that option every single time. Portability is utterly unimportant to me, so I would much rather know a 3DS or Vita game is going to hit consoles/PC later on first, so I can save my money for what is to me the far superior version. I might think differently regarding the Vita if it wasn't so large, fragile and unwieldy to lug around, as the visuals are certainly comparable and it has two analog sticks, but that's sadly not the case. As it stands I just feel kinda ripped off for buying the Vita version for what is certainly more than what the Deluxe Edition will cost. Price of early adoption, I suppose.

There is nothing wrong here. Handheld is not that that hot in the west and these games got decent budgets (as in not small 2D indie games) and publishers can sell them digitally on consoles for more gamers later on.

While I have owned almost every handheld system ever made, if I can play something on the big screen with a real controller, I'll take that option every single time. Portability is utterly unimportant to me, so I would much rather know a 3DS or Vita game is going to hit consoles/PC later on first, so I can save my money for what is to me the far superior version.

And I am opposite of you, and would prefer a portable version, as portability is vitally important to me so that I can have the game with me on the train and in my backyard.

What I'm saying is, we've gotten to the point with game production where you and I don't have to be at odds. Engines scale fairly well, and our portable machines are seriously powerful. It's not like back in the day where you had to start from scratch and every version of every game was a challenge.

And as long as these up-ports remain profitable both times out (which unfortunately for Vita and even 3DS is not proving to be the case for the first time out), it makes sense to produce them on portables first for me and then make the HD version for you later. It doesn't make sense to launch Batman AO Blackgate alongside Batman AO on the same day, or even same quarter. It makes more sense to make it for the platform that needs it to launch alongside the platform it is syphoning off of (both in engine and marketing budget,) then revisit it a while later on the other platforms that could now find room for it. It also allows a company to experiment with a franchise in a way that DLC or even traditional side-games wouldn't (I'm not sure Blackgate would have been made if it had started off as a console game, but because it had to shoot low to make it onto 3DS, they came up with an interesting variation on the Arkham style of gameplay,) and that variant could become a worthwhile alternative stream in the franchise's product cycle.

Win-win!

The market has to justify making the portable version to even have anything to port over in the first place, however...